The Lower 9th Ward is a section of New Orleans, east of the Bywater neighborhood (from which it is separated by the Industrial Canal), north of the Mississippi River, and west St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana.

Contents

Understand

This neighborhood of predominantly African-American working-class homeowners became tragically famous when it was smashed by floodwaters with the catastrophic failure of the federal levees during Hurricane Katrina.

Five years later, a few businesses have reopened, and a fraction of the population is back (some still in "temporary" trailers while they work to rebuild their homes), but large sections of the area are still either seriously damaged or simply empty lots where rows of houses once stood.

Get in

The two main roadways are Claiborne Avenue and St. Claude Avenue, both of which have bridges over the Industrial Canal connecting them to the Bywater neighborhood and the rest of New Orleans. Heading further southeast are St. Bernard Parish and Chalmette. Car is by far the most practical way to visit, but you can also take Bus 88, St Claude-Delery: you can catch this bus on any corner of St Claude; it runs along St Claude and Rampart through Marigny, French Quarter, and the CBD to the west, the Lower 9th Ward and Arabi in the east.

See

Fats Domino House, 1208 Caffin Ave. Those wishing to drive by the house of music legend will find it on Caffin St between St. Claude and Claiborne; you can't miss the large letters "F D" on the front.

House of Dance and Feathers, 1317 Tupelo St, ☎+1 504 278-8242 (ronaldwlewis@bellsouth.net). 1317 Tupelo Street. Small museum dedicated to local Mardi Gras Indians and Second Line culture. Curator Ronald W. Lewis has interesting stories. Open by appointment only; contact in advance.

Jackson Barracks Military Museum, 6400 St Claude Ave, ☎+1 504 278-8242, [1]. M-F 8AM-4PM, Sa by appointment, closed holidays. This is an unorthodox choice for most Lower 9th visitors, but the Louisiana National Guard has an interesting military museum, with artifacts, weapons and memorabilia from every major American war.Free.

Steamboat houses on Egania Street at the Mississippi River. A visitor attraction long before Katrina, these over-the-top ornate Victorian wooden houses in steamboat-baroque style are on the high ground of the least affected portion of the Lower 9th (with only a few feet of floodwaters for a few days, as opposed to over the rooftops then 10 feet of standing water for weeks in most of the Lower 9th). Take a look at the exterior of these houses, then walk up to the top of the levee for a striking view of central New Orleans around a bend of the Mississippi.

Do

Sankofa Marketplace, (Corner of St Claude Ave & Caffin St), [2]. Every Saturday: 10AM-2PM. Weekly market with farm fresh produce, prepared food, crafts. The second Saturday of each month also has live music and other special events.

Tour

Fats Domino's House after the floodwaters were drained, late 2005

Scenes of devastation. Those who wish to see the worst of the destruction can drive around pretty much anywhere north of Claiborne Avenue, but "ground zero" is along Jourdan Avenue north of Claiborne, the site of the major levee breaches. The levees and floodwalls have been rebuilt, the giant barge which landed in the neighborhood has been dismantled, thousands of truckloads of debris have been hauled away, and the vast majority of the thousands of the smashed houses demolished — but the scope of the destruction is still astonishing.

While at first some returned locals resented the thought of being peered at by tourists, at least as many will say the whole world needs to see what happened here and be aware of these Americans' continuing struggle to reclaim their lives. With time the second view has largely prevailed. If you decide to visit the Lower 9th, do so with respect. If your life is better than that of the people living here, make a donation to the Common Ground Collective "Blue House" neighborhood center at 1700 Deslonde St [3].

"Official" tours are readily available for booking at your hotel downtown, but you are likely to have a much better and less invasive experience off those awkward big tour buses and in your own car (or a privately arranged car). A hotel would certainly be able to get you a local tour guide to come along for a ride, or you could just stop by the volunteer center or the Chinese take out place and start asking locals questions.

Eat & Drink

Both eateries and bars are extremely scarce in the Lower 9th Ward, and you will likely find yourself heading west across the bridge to the Bywater for food, be it fried chicken, BBQ, or a nice restaurant a little further away, or for a drink or two at Vaughans or BJ's. Alternatively, head further down river to Chalmette.

Holmes One Stop, 5340 Saint Claude Ave, ☎+1 504 309-8560. Holmes is a little, quick Chinese take-out place, with food that is tasty, if unremarkable, in a neighborhood very short on places to eat.$2-8.

Sleep

Accommodations in the Lower 9th are available only for volunteers, but they are actually quite nice. Both short term and long term volunteers stay at one of two buildings run by Common Ground Relief, 1800 Deslonde St, ☎ +1 504 312-1729, [4], which has volunteer forms available on its website.

Stay safe

Nature reclaiming the Lower 9th

The Lower 9th Ward is not a high crime area. It's not really a high anything area, except maybe waterfowl, as there are few people living in this devastated neighborhood post-Katrina.

Get out

The Lower 9th has received far more attention than the rest of the city and surrounding areas for being the worst hit, and therefore has had the biggest volunteer effort. In some ways, this has left it looking a bit better than worse off neighbors, which have yet to be visited by Brad Pitt with hammer and plywood in hand. Arabi is just across the city line to the east, and remains almost entirely destroyed. For that matter, nearly the entire lakeside half of New Orleans remains in a state of disrepair. If you truly want to understand what happened in this city, you should make a point to see what happened beyond this one small section.

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